I have a love-hate relationship with Bumble. I love it for what it has given me in my life, and yet, I absolutely hate having to be on it and just being on dating apps in general. It goes against everything I am, but it has kind of been a necessary tool that I have had to utilize in my life.

Bumble is no longer just a dating app. Aside from bumbledate, there’s bumblebizz and bumblebff.

In the very distant past, this would have been a post about the adventures of dating, but this is not what this is. This is a post about how bumblebff changed my life, in the best possible way.

I should start this by saying that I have some incredible friends in my life, who I love to the moon and back! The thing was, I had been living back in Toronto for a couple of years and I didn’t have a group of friends in Toronto because my friends are all over the country, and as I had come to find, meeting friends in the city was actually not the easiest task. Enter bumblebff.

A little over 2 years ago, Bumble which is an app that I had only previously used for dating, had introduced a new feature for women to connect with other women in order for them to make new friends in their area. I quickly found that there were so many women who were looking to make new friendly connections. Whether they were new to the city, had friends moving away, or were looking to meet people with similar interests, there was this entire community of women looking to make new connections. It was pretty incredible really. I had no idea there were so many women in the city who were looking for the same thing that I was.

I immediately found that when connecting with a new match, that it was very similar to dating in that you swipe right or left depending on if they catch your interest, you have the same kind of conversations where they either go well and you decide to meet, or they just fizzle out, or you just let the match expire…and of the course the good old un-match.

I consider myself pretty darn lucky, and that is my reason for writing this post. I only technically met one person from those I connected with on bumblebff, and boy am I forever grateful for swiping right on her. Like I have already mentioned, this whole process is similar to dating. I saw this girl, thought she looked awesome, but also thought there is no way that a girl like that would like a girl like me, but I swiped right anyways, and BOOM, it was a match! If I recall correctly, she started the conversation, and eventually we decided to meet in person. I was more nervous to meet her in person than going on a regular date. I remember texting one of my other friends while I waiting for her that I couldn’t believe how nervous I was.

I didn’t even know what making a new friend was like. What were the rules? Were there rules? How often do I text? What’s too much or too little? What on earth do I do? I seriously had no idea. I can kind of laugh at that whole time now, but man, it was confusing at the time.

Eventually, she became of my closest friends, and made a significant change to my social life. She is beautiful, fun, smart and cultured. Since becoming friends with her, I have made so many amazing memories, learned a lot….you know, like how to drink wine! True story. I can’t even imagine what the last two years of my life would have been like if I had not met her.

What happened next is pretty much the best part of my story. What happened next, was completely unexpected, and I can only explain it as the bumblebff ripple effect. If I hadn’t met my match, she would not have introduced me to one of her stunningly beautiful matches, and then we would not have met the other amazing women in the city who had also joined bumblebff and then a joined a Facebook group that was initially created from women on bumblebff in Toronto. It’s pretty incredible!

Another thing that became abundantly clear was how small the dating world is in Toronto. The guys in this city should take note. Us ladies have each others back, specifically the single ladies. Women who are actively dating will compare notes with their friends to ensure that they are not talking to or dating the same person, which has personally happened to me…more than once. I can think of one particular story where one of my girlfriends had a first “date” with a new match from bumblebff and soon found out that this girl was dating the same person as our new mutual friend, and unfortunately, this was news to our friend. Let me make this clear, it’s a small, small world, and we have each others back!

The last two years have been an amazing adventure! So many good times, not so good times and so many wonderful memories made. From the many wine nights, long chats about life and relationships, and laugh until it hurts moments (how many girls does it take to start a push-button ignition car?) We’ve already been through so much together. Joining bumblebff was one of the best decisions that I have ever made, so thank you to Whitney Wolfe for creating a platform that empowers women! I have built some incredible friendships, and I know that no matter where life may take us, that I have made friends for life. Here’s to sharing many more of life’s adventures together!